


Star Trek: Meridian

by allamaeatingnoodles



Category: Star Trek
Genre: 26th Century Star Trek, Exploration, Gen, bigggg massive ship, exploring other galaxies because that's cooolll, running into aliens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26962468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allamaeatingnoodles/pseuds/allamaeatingnoodles
Summary: In the 26th Century, the United Federation of Planets has lost its penchant for exploration, even with the invention of intergalatic FTL technology in the early 2530s. In response, several Starfleet captains in 2550 came up with Project Interstellar - an attempt to revive large scale exploration.Five years along in 2555, the Project finally bears fruit with the USS Meridian, Starfleet's one-of-a-kind vessel designed specifically for extragalactic exploration. Placed under the command of Captain Reyes Larsen, the Meridian sets out for the Andromeda Galaxy.But when it does arrive, a distress signal leads the crew of the Meridian to find a wrecked Starfleet vessel, thousands of dead mutilated bodies and hive-minded, potentially semi-sentient aliens running all over the ship.Starfleet's first deep space voyage in another galaxy only served to introduce the Federation to a whole slew of extragalactic threats.





	1. Meridian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One night I had an idea for a 26th century Star Trek story, but then decided to sleep on it. After that I went onto Reddit and posted it because I just had to share it somewhere.
> 
> Here's the thing: not much is known about the Federation in the 26th century apart from two starship classes (the Universe and Congo classes specifically), the infamous Battle of Procyon V and the fact that the Klingons and Xindi joined the Federation. So much of what happens here is just my speculation and imagination.
> 
> Also I also think that by this point Federation technology would have been so unfathomably advanced that extragalactic exploration would be just as easy as exploring back in the Milky Way.

_Personal Log, Stardate 232759.21: After months of test flights, the Meridian is now ready for its launch. This is a momentous occasion. I'm excited to see where she'll go._

  
  
**EARTH SPACEDOCK, SOL SYSTEM**

  
  
Captain Reyes Larsen's office was a mess.  
  
Larsen wasn't known to be a very organised person, but even he had to admit that his office was in a dismal state. Datapads were all over the tables and schematics lay spread out on his office floor. His working desk was not better off, with datapads similarly all over it, as well as five empty cups once filled with tea and models of starships that weren't in service yet.  
  
For the past five years he had been the driving force behind Project Interstellar - Starfleet's latest development programme. It was something that he had been a part of from the project's very start. Now, the project was about to bear fruit.  
  
He had received a communique from Fleet Admiral K'Tai informing him that the USS Meridian was now ready for its launch. The Meridian was the brainchild of Larsen's - he was one the ship's main designers. Its development and construction was also the first not to be overseen by the Admiralty.  
  
The Meridian was Starfleet's experimental interstellar cruiser. Designed with every concievable extragalactic threat in mind, the Meridian was made for extreme long-term extragalactic exploration. She had strong defences, was decked out with Starfleet's most advanced technlogy, and sported a design frame inspired by older Starfleet explorers of the 25th and early 26th century, giving her a streamlined figure.  
  
Project Interstellar also spawned several classes of small crafts and even a frigate, all designed to support the Meridian in missions.  
  
Larsen heard a chirp from his combadge, making him stop his cleaning.  
  
"Larsen here," he answered.  
  
The voice he heard was one of Admiral K'Tai. "Larsen, we have the Meridian prepped at McKinley Station. Your crew's assembling in the main concourse."  
  
"Now?"  
  
"Yep," K'Tai replied, "You should go and meet your crew before you depart. K'Tai out."  
  
 _Crap_ , Larsen thought, _I haven't even packed_.  
  
Larsen managed to squeeze everything he needed in about five minutes, as well as clean up his office until no datapads or schemetics could be seen. He had his items transferred to the Meridian while he met with the crew.  
  
He stepped into the Deck 87 transporter and immediately materialised on the transporter pad at the main concourse.  
  
Earth Spacedock over the years has had to go through massive upgrades, mainly because Starfleet was rolling out new larger ships with each passing decade. Now, Earth Spacedock was now at least six times as large as it once was, making it the largest starbase in the Federation.  
  
Stepping into the main concourse Larsen saw a massive crowd gathering in the middle of the entire place. He had expected a very large crew, since the Meridian competed with Starfleet's biggest ships in terms of length.  
  
As soon as he began walking towards the large group, the swarm of Starfleet officers turned to him as they noticed him. Then, loud applause sounded out across the main concourse. Larsen smiled. Looks like now he was the center of attention.  
  
Larsen weaved his way through the crowd as the applause died down.  
  
"The man of the hour." Commander Regal Kaas - a Joined Trill - came up to Larsen.  
  
"Congrats on her launch," Kaas said. Larsen smiled in response.  
  
"Thank you Commander. I take it that you'll be my first officer?" Larsen asked.  
  
"You assume correctly," Kaas replied, "When do you think we'll leave?"  
  
"If I'm not wrong -"  
  
Larsen was suddenly cut off by an announcement.  
  
"All USS Meridian personnel, please proceed to the shuttle bay for departure," the announcement sounded throughout the main concourse.  
  
"...now," Larsen finally finished.  
  
Personnel immediately began moving off towards the shuttle bay. Larsen and the commander managed to snatch a shuttle, where the only other person inside was a lieutenant.  
  
"Captain, Commander," the lieutenant said, "Lieutenant Charles Anderson."

  
Larsen and Kaas took turns to shake hands with the lieutenant.

  
"Pleasure. Regal Kaas. The captain's Reyes Larsen," Kaas introduced both himself and Larsen.  
  
After introductions, the shuttle - an Aquatic-class- took off.  
  
"So which department are you assigned to on the Meridian?" Larsen asked.  
  
"Cetacean Ops sir. Heard that it's the best place on the ship," Anderson replied, "I've heard much about the Meridian."  
  
"Well what can I say, I helped design her," Larsen remarked.  
  
"There she is," Kaas pointed out.  
  
As the shuttle approached McKinley Station, the USS Meridian came into view. She was an extremely large ship, slightly longer than the Universe-class. The ship glimmered slightly in the shadow of Earth's orbit. Her sleek, streamlined body consisted of a gently-domed saucer, and two pairs of converging pylons holding two long warp nacelles each. Her deflector dish, was small and compact, hidden away on the bottom of the ship's primary hull.  
  
She was beautiful in every way, and she was the only ship of her kind in the entirety of Starfleet. Starfleet's experimental interstellar explorer was about to get underway.  
  
The shuttle circled round the front of the ship, allowing the three officers a good view of the wording on ship's massive saucer. They read: ' **U.S.S. MERIDIAN NX-971246** '.  
  
The shuttle then rounded the back of the saucer, turning towards the entrance to one of the Meridian's shuttle bays. As it closed in, the shuttle's engines suddenly cut and a tractor beam activated, guiding the craft slowly into the shuttle bay. Once fully inside, the shuttle was set down gently with a soft thud. The three officers then disembarked, and Lieutenant Charles Anderson went on his way while Kaas and Larsen headed towards the deck's transporter pad.  
  
Navigating the ship was surprisingly easy now that point-to-point transporters on every deck were common on all ships. They were first introduced with the Universe-class. The sheer length and height of these behemoths meant that a turbolift would have taken much longer to get from one point of the ship to another. Transporters were more faster, direct and convenient. They were already in every single Starfleet vessel anyways, and were always a common fact of life for Starfleet personnel. Over 350 years of usage proved that transporters have been and always were the safest mode to transportation in the Federation.  
  
Both Larsen and Kaas materialised onto the main bridge's transporter pad. Bridge officers had already taken their stations, with various personnel entering and leaving the bridge.  
  
"Nice to have a main bridge again," Larsen said.  
  
Kaas agreed with Larsen. Since the launch of the Universe-class, ships were constructed with no centralized bridge. After the Battle of Procyon V the previous year, as well as persuasion from Starfleet engineers, Universe-class ships were refitted to have main central bridge, and returned to being a standard feature of Starfleet ships.  
  
The bridge officers dropped what they were doing and stood at attention.  
  
"Captain on the bridge!" a Caitian officer announced.  
  
One of the first things Larsen noted was the Klingon officer at one of the helm consoles.  
  
"Nice to see a Klingon serving on board," he remarked. The Klingon officer in response gave a smirk. Larsen nodded at him in acknowledgement.  
  
He made his way to the Captain's chair.  
  
"From what I was informed, I know many of you are recent graduates from the Academy. I think you should consider yourselves honoured to be pioneers for Starfleet's next generation of explorers," he began.  
  
Several ensigns started beaming with pride.  
  
"Today, we're taking the Meridian beyond the Milky Way to the Andromeda Galaxy. This is the new frontier of space exploration. For a long time we'll be anywhere but the Milky Way. Take a good look around you, because these people that you see here will be your closest friends and colleagues for the next several years."  
  
Larsen took a good look around the bridge. The bridge officers were all looking at him with smiles on their faces, save for the Vulcans.  
  
"All I ask is that you not only work hard, but also play hard. Get out there, take chances, and discover the unknown," Larsen continued.  
  
A brief silence before Larsen finally ended.  
  
"Let's go be explorers," Larsen said with optimism.  
  
At once, the bridge officers replied with unison, "Yes sir!"  
  
Larsen took a look at his captain's chair. It came with dynamic holographic displays, and also as he found out, a built in compartment for armaments.  
  
He took a seat in his command chair, his first officer seating down a few moments later. He noticed its extreme comfort, and he soon guessed why.  
  
"This thing's got lumbar support," Larsen realised. Kaas shifted further into his chair. He hummed in approval as he got comfortable.  
  
"Sir, we have clearance for departure from ESD," the Klingon helm officer said.  
  
"Acknowledged," Larsen replied before asking, "what's your name, officer?"  
  
The Klingon swiveled around in his chair and replied, "Lieutenant Commander K'Daq of House K'Tol, sir."  
  
Larsen gave that a bit of a thought. "A minority house, I gather."  
  
The Klingon smirked. "Yes sir, but our lineage is respected."  
  
"Yes, I've heard about your House," Larsen added.  
  
The Klingon officer immediately turned back to his console. "Moorings have contracted. We've successfully undocked sir."  
  
"Good. Take us out slowly at one-eighth impulse. Once we're clear take us to quarter impulse," Larsen ordered.  
  
The impulse engines of the Meridian grew a brighter orange as they fired. Slowly, the over three kilometer long vessel pulled out of its dock. The Meridian dwarfed the hundreds of ships around earth spacedock, apart from a Universe-class and Congo-class starship in the vicinity.  
  
The Meridian may have been tested thoroughly, but she was still a new ship. Larsen wanted to take it slow and try to get the vessel up to speed.  
  
The Meridian was differently designed compared to other ships like it. It had a chveron saucer which gently sloped down into pylons. Its streamlined and compact shape meant that this behemoth was built for high warp speeds.  
  
The engineering and construction process behind the Meridian was complex and head pounding, but it was a relief to finally see her leaving the Sol system.  
  
After a few minutes, the Meridian reached a far enough distance from the vicinity of ESD.  
  
"We're now 250 kilometers from the vicinity of ESD," a helm officer reported.  
  
"Increasing to quarter impulse now," K'Daq announced.  
  
The Meridian increased in speed.  
  
"We're now 500 meters from warp-out point. 450. 400."  
  
Larsen pressed a finger onto a holographic companel on his chair's armrest.  
  
"All decks, this is the Captain. All personnel are to secure all stations and prepare for hyper-luminal warp," he spoke into the ship's intercom.  
  
"Luminal Warp Drive is standing by sir," K'Daq reported.  
  
"Engage at your discretion, Mr. K'Daq."  
  
The Klingon officer nodded at the captain, then turned back to his console. His fingers moved across the holographic screen.  
  
"Entering hyper-luminal warp in 5....4....3....2....1."  
  
The Meridian hummed as she spooled up for the jump, then warped away in a flash of marine blue light, now on its way to the Andromeda Galaxy.  
  
"Sir, at our current velocity we should arrive in about 35 minutes,' K'Daq reported.  
  
"Very good, Helm."  
  
With a bit of time to kill, Larsen made his way into the Meridian's main lounge. It was relatively empty, with only a small number of officers sparsely spread throughout. The room was located at the front of the saucer, alowing for a large massive window to provide awe-inspiring views of the open space. On the wall opposite, a massive Starfleet logo was emblazoned across, with the words 'U.S.S. MERIDIAN' encircling the bottom. Ambient smooth jazz, he noticed, was also playing in the background.  
  
Larsen approached the bar at the center of the room and grabbed a chair. A bartender, a male El-Aurian, approached him.  
  
"A penny for your thoughts?" he asked, snapping Larsen out of his daydreaming. Larsen chuckled slightly.  
  
"Just thinking about what we're going to find at Andromeda, that's all," Larsen replied. The El-Aurian smiled.  
  
"Well, we could find just about anything. It's a big universe out there," he added. After a short pause, he asked, "What can I get you?"  
  
"How about....a Samarian sunset?"  
  
The El-Aurian nodded slightly. "You're just in luck. I made a few for a group of junior officers who came in here ten minutes ago." He handed a glass of the clear beverage to Larsen. Larsen tapped the rim of the glass lightly, and the initially clear drink turned into a swirl of red, green and gold before it became a dull non-luminescent gold.  
  
"A very colourful drink. I usually give this to people who seem a little down to cheer them up, but you don't look like you need cheering up," the bartender remarked.  
  
Larsen smirked. "Heh, well not really, no." He took a sip of the Samarian Senset cupped in his palms, and felt the sour taste wash over his tongue. He let out a small sigh in contentment. Larsen was not a drinker, but he did enjoy an occasional glass or two. Despite having a very low alcoholic content then even he would like, the Samarian Sunset was a drink he was most familiar with.  
  
"You know, the Meridian's quite the ship," the El-Aurian began, "It's massive. Not as wide as the Enteprise, but it's just as spacious. If not even more. Oh, and have you been to Cetacean Ops?"  
  
"I know a Lieutenant Charles Anderson works there," Larsen recalled.  
  
"He doesn't just work there. He's the head of the entire department, along with the northen bottlenose whale we have onboard," the bartender added.  
  
"I think we also have a wholphin on board. It amazes me that we have an entire starship department mainly run by dolphins."  
  
The bartender narrowed to the four golden strips coming down from the collar on Larsen's uniform.  
  
"I see you're the captain of this ship," he deduced. Larsen smiled.  
  
"Astute observation," Larsen remarked. He then introduced himself, extending his arm for a handshake. "Reyes Larsen."  
  
The El-Aurian bartender took Larsen's hand and shook it. "Tavid Asan."

  
  
  
  
 **< <<** ACCESSING **> >>**  
AUTHORIZATION GRANTED  
ID: K'TAI, FLEET ADMIRAL, ESD C.O.  
  
U.S.S. MERIDIAN  
NX-971246  
EXPERIMENTAL INTERSTELLAR EXPLORER

  
  
Project Interstellar was Starfleet's attempt to revive large scale exploration in response to the Federation's long declining penchant for exploration.  
  
The USS Meridian was the main product of Project Interstellar. As Starfleet's experimental explorer, it is the first starship specifically designed for extreme long term extragalactic exploration. The vessel was designed with every conceivable deep space situation in mind.  
  
The Meridian boasts Starfleet's most advanced technology, from state-of-the-art research labs to extremely sensitive sensors. Automation is also a key component of the Meridian. Its advanced HEPHAESTUS Computer Core is the most advanced in Starfleet, possessing extreme processing and storage capacity to assist personnel on any given mission, especially in analysis and research. It is also Starfleet's first shipboard artificial intelligence. It is able to control and manage critical ship systems at command, and can even operate the entire ship with limited personnel in emergencies as it is able to provide undivided attention to multiple tasks at one time.  
  
Tactically, the Meridian is heavily defended, with standard quantum phasers and experimental quantum phased piezo-photon torpedoes (combination of standard Federation and Lukari protomatter technology), along with standard photon torpedoes. Additionally, with various combat and evasive protocols specially programmed into the HEPHAESTUS Computer Core, the Meridian is ironically one of the most combat-capable ships since the introduction of the Universe-class, despite being strictly an explorer.  
  
In terms of dimensions, the Meridian is of a similar length to the Universe-class, only slightly longer. Like the Universe-class, the Meridian is large enough to be divided into suburbs containing various facilities and amenities from large parks, entertainment zones, educational institutions and even separate residential areas for families. This is especially important given the intention for the Meridian to stay outside the Milky Way for long extended periods.  
  
It has a standard crew complement of 11,000, but is considered mission-ready with a minimum of 1,500.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hello!
> 
> Good to see that you've made it here.
> 
> If you got any suggestions or comments please send them in my general direction. I would love to read them.
> 
> Please be nice! =)
> 
> And thanks for checking this out!


	2. Andromeda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Back with Chapter II! Enjoy!

Larsen returned to the bridge, just as K'Daq announced that the Meridian was approaching its destination. Larsen ordered him to drop the ship out of warp.

The Meridian's warp bubble collapsed as it slowed, its drive winding down. In front was the darkness of space illuminated by the distant glow of stars, a sign that the ship had arrived in a galaxy.

"Captain, sensors confirm that we are in the Andromeda Galaxy, specifically, the Valodis sector," a Vulcan operations officer reported. Larsen tried to recall the officer's name - T'Sol, if his memory had served him right. Larsen had tried to get to know his crew members while on the way to Andromeda.

"I remember the Enterprise mapped out this sector around four weeks ago," Larsen said, "The sector's incredibly empty."

"According to Astrometrics, the Valodis sector is only home to three star systems - one is a binary system, while the remaining are both single star systems," the Vulcan read from her screen.

"Not much to see," Kaas remarked.

"Captain, I'm detecting some form of ambient radiation in the sector," the Science Officer - a Breen named Senn - reported from his station, "It's not necessarily lethal, but if we get to an area of a high enough concentration it could disrupt subspace communications and or sensors."

"Was that mentioned in the Enterprise's report?" Kaas asked.

"It was. However it also mentions that the radiation had a signature that didn't match with any known type of radiation from the Milky Way or otherwise," Senn answered.

Just then, the comms officer - a Bajoran Lieutenant Commander named Aashu Oahasa - turned towards Larsen. "Captain, I'm detecting a signal on a Starfleet frequency. It's a distress call....from the USS Apollo."

"Let's hear it, Commander," Larsen responded.

An equaliser bar appeared on the ridiculously massive viewscreen. It began to fluctuate as the transmission played.

"This is........Apollo.....unknown beings on board........assistance is required -"

The transmission was cut off.

Larsen turned to his comm officer. "Is that all?"

Aashu was focused on her console, her fingers moving swiftly across the console. "Unfortunately, yes. The transmission's too garbled, and the Apollo stopped transmitting. I can't get anymore, sir."

"Did they say 'unknown beings on board'?" Larsen asked.

"Sounds like they were boarded," Kaas surmised, "Do we have the location of the transmission source?"

"Aye, Commander. Patching it on navigation now," Aashu replied. In an instant, a holographic map of the Andromeda Galaxy appeared at the front of the bridge, a single bright red dot flashing on the lower right of the map. As the map magnified, the red dot was revealed to be in a neighboring sector.

"That's not too far from where we are," Larsen remarked.

"A standard warp jump should get us there in a few seconds," K'Daq stated.

"Set an intercept course," Larsen ordered, "Alright people, keep your eyes sharp on sensors, we're going in."

The Meridian spooled up its warp drive, and in a flash of marine blue it jumped to warp once again. A few seconds later, the massive ship dropped out, only to be hit by debris.

The Meridian rocked to the side rather violently, almost throwing the bridge officers out of their seats.

"Report!" ordered Larsen, looking over at Ops.

"We appear to have warped into a debris field," T'Sol replied coolly, "Shields have been automatically raised."

The Meridian shook again.

"Collision alert! Impacts on decks 15, 26, 34 and 45!" a junior officer reported.

"All personnel to alert stations!" Kaas ordered.

The bridge suddenly went dark, then bathed in red light as alarms sounded. A few minutes of rocking and shaking pass before the Meridian finally was clear of the field. Another field was ahead however, now with more larger pieces of debris.

"Captain, analysis of the debris shows materials that are consistent with those used in the construction of Universe-class starships," T'Sol reported.

"On screen," Larsen ordered. The viewscreen showed the field of debris before them, with what looked like pieces from a ship's hull floating and drifting aimlessly through space. Larsen studied the screen carefully, examining the debris with his eyes until he stumbled upon one which looked to be much larger than the surrounding pieces.

"T'Sol, magnify that section," Larsen commanded. The female Vulcan complied, and the viewscreen focused on that particular piece of debris, magnifying until Larsen could make out what seemed to be writing on the hull, albeit most of it was seemingly rubbed off the hull. He could only make out the registry number: NCC-987625

"What the...." Larsen muttered. The wreckage slowly danced around the viewscreen as it continued to drift and spin slowly in the void.

"Sensors confirm it is.....the Apollo," Senn confirmed.

"My God..." Larsen gasped, "It's completely wrecked."

"Universe-class starships are some of Starfleet's most durable vessels. It must have taken a hell of a beating for it to be damaged like this," Kaas said.

"It's not just damaged. She looks completely unsalvageable," Aashu added.

"How does it look like on sensors?" Larsen asked.

"From what we're seeing on the screen, just as expected," T'Sol replied, "All critical and non-essential systems are offline. The left nacelle and pylon have been detached and all decks of the primary hull have been exposed to space in multiple sections. Life support is however at a bare minimum, drawing power from emergency reserves, which has also been damaged. I surmise it may not be long before it fails."

"Life signs?" Kaas asked.

"Detecting 2,557 lifesigns," Senn read from his screen.

"A Universe-class vessel would have a standard crew complement of 10,000. That means almost three-quarters of the crew, just gone," Larsen said.

"Can we send a message?" Kaas questioned again.

"No sir. It's the ambient radiation. The levels are now high enough to disrupt communications. Besides, I don't think we'll be received - the Apollo's communications systems have been totally busted." the Merdian's human chief engineer - Lieutenant Commander Reis Dunn - answered.

"Looks like we'll have to send people down there," Kaas said.

"Assemble three away teams of ten, with five security personnel for each team. Tell the transporter room to standby," Larsen ordered. He turned to Kaas, and gave a slight nod. Kass got up and left for the transporter room.

After ten minutes, the away teams dematerialised onboard the Apollo decked in environmental suits to protect themselves from the apparently suffocating environmental conditions in the damaged ship.

They found themselves in a pitch black corridor full of floating twisted pieces of metal with no gravity.

"Woah. It's a mess in here," one lieutenant said. Kaas tried to get his bearings as a small piece of metal, presumably from an interior bulkhead, floated towards him. He gently pushed it aside and activated his gravity boots, adhering his feet to the deck floor. With nothing else but the lights from their helmets to illuminate the way, the away teams began to move out.

Kaas activated his suit's built-in intercom. They had been tweaked in order to compensate for the comms-disrupting ambient radiation.

"Kaas to Meridian," he spoke into his intercom, "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"This is Meridian. You bet, Commander," the voice of Aashu replied.

Back on the Meridian, the bridge officers were all focused on the screen showing the Apollo's interior from Kaas' own camera view.

"I'm getting just lots of readings from debris. Debris from interior bulkheads, debris from ceilings, doors, broken EPS circuitry, etcetera," Dunn said.

"Power is completely offline here," Kaas stated as he looked around, "Even with the helmet lights it's so dark we can't see anything beyond a few meters."

On the bottom left of the viewscreen was a map of the primary hull of the Apollo, with three red dots signifying the away teams. Kaas' team on the map was the red dot with a gold ring around it. Larsen noticed it was heading towards a large open area of the primary hull.

"Kaas, looks like you're heading into one of the ship's parks," Larsen observed, "Once you turn right at the next junction you should reach it."

"Rog-" Kaas replied, but suddenly cut off and instead shouted, "WOAH!"

"What is it?" Larsen asked, concerned. All he heard in response was heavy breathing from Kaas. He could see a lieutenant move towards where Kaas was facing, and the headlight drone moved, its light revealing.....

"Are those.....dead bodies?" Aashu asked hesitantly.

"Dead mutilated bodies," Dunn added.

"Dead mutilated bodies wearing Starfleet uniforms," T'Sol added further.

Larsen came to a grisly conclusion. "My God....those are....were crewmembers of the Apollo."

Kaas' camera view moved up to show more floating dead, bloodied, cut-up corpses of Starfleet officers and civilians lining the corridors ahead. There were also large splotches of blood, all from various species, frozen solid onto the walls, floor and ceiling.

"I think I'm going to throw up," Dunn muttered, his hand covering his mouth.

"Wait a minute," Kaas said, now having gotten over his shock, "What is that?"

His visor focused on a corpse his helmet light was shining on. This particular corpse was large, black and had what looked like several tentacles. The corpse was not any kind of humanoid; it was completely alien.

"It's not any species I can recognise from the Federation or from anywhere in the Milky Way," Kaas said.

"Could this be....a native species of Andromeda?" Senn asked.

This set the entire bridge crew thinking.

"Most probably," Larsen replied, "and I also think that we may have found our 'unknown beings'."

"What? You mean that?" Dunn asked, bewildered.

"Well, the dead alien isn't like any we've seen, so like a Vulcan I would say that it is a logical assumption," Aashu said.

"I am inclined to agree," T'Sol added.

A junior officer then turned from her station and reported, "Sir, further scans show that the detected lifesigns from earlier are centered around Decks 45 to 50 of the Apollo."

"Those are where the shuttle bays and evacuation zones are," Dunn said, "They could be trying to evacuate survivors."

Larsen turned towards the main viewscreen, "Kaas, get the away teams to move towards Deck 45."

"Acknowledged. All away teams, proceed to the rendezvous point at Deck 45 transporter."

"To get to the nearest deck transporter you're going to have to make your way across the park," Larsen said, "It's still running on its separate back-up power so it should still work."

"Acknowledged. Alright people, let's move."

Kaas' team moved out of the dead-laiden corridor and into the open space park.

It had a very dystopian look.

The lack of atmosphere and freezing temperatures meant that the plant life at the park had essentially frozen to death. Ice crystals could be seen around their frozen remains, the humidity in the shipboard air having been solidified. More debris could also be seen floating all over.

Kaas headed towards a large tree. He only gave one of its frozen branches a light touch, and it cracked and fell to pieces.

"The trees and plants. They're so frozen they’ve become extremely brittle," Kaas said.

Suddenly, a loud footstep.

It was heard by the entire away team.

And it was getting louder.

"Oh shit," one of the security officers in the team whispered loudly, "Hide!"

At once, the away split up in different directions, ducking behind the nearest non-floating object they could find. Kaas ducked behind a large console, but he realised that he was alone.

_Oh great_ , he thought.

A large, dark figure suddenly entered. Kaas slowly peeked out from his cover. He could see several long tentacles, followed by seemingly unwieldy large limbs which curved inwards. It had an elongated head with what looked like some type of bony crest on top. The footsteps made by the alien were very loud. Kaas could also make out what seemed to be armor.

More of the aliens then suddenly poured in. Kaas noticed they produced a kind of long croaking sound, which reverberated around the park. Then, one of the aliens turned towards his direction. He quickly ducked, hoping with every fiber of his being that he had not been spotted.

The aliens quickly left the park as quickly as they had entered. Once every single one was gone, Kaas looked out from his cover. Quickly, the hiding away team members came out of their hiding spots.

"We better hurry," one of the security personnel said with urgency. The away team picked the pace and got moving towards the deck transporters.

After ten minutes of wandering around the entire park, they finally go to the deck transporter.

An operations division ensign checked out the transporter panel. "Commander, looks like the Captain was right. The transporter is still functioning.

"Alright, everybody on the pad," Kaas ordered. Once all the away team members were on the pad standing shoulder to shoulder, Kaas activated the transporter, dematerialising before materialising again on Deck 45.

Awaiting them were a few members of the other two away teams.

"Commander, you made it," a human ensign said.

"Looks like your team arrived, Ensign Cervantes," Kaas stated.

"Yes, and Ensign Andaria's team found the survivors, all crammed inside Cetacean Ops," Cervantes replied.

Kaas' team was directed into Apollo's Cetacean Ops Department, where the surviving crew of the Apollo and the away teams from the Meridian were preparing for evacuation. Some officers were tending to injured crew members. Cetacean Ops was completely dark, the only lighting being emergency flashlights and lights from EV suits.

"Well, at least the dolphins are still alive," Kaas remarked, only to see the floating eviscerated corpse of a bottlenose dolphin, "Mostly."

A middle-aged Andorian Starfleet officer walked up towards Kaas and his team. The simple four golden strips as his rank indicated that he was a captain.

"Commander," the Andorian captain said, "Captain Arevaon Thol."

"Regal Kaas," Kass introduced himself, "I assume you're the Apollo's captain?"

"Or what's left of her," Captain Thol added with resignation.

"Captain, would you mind explaining what happened to the Apollo?" Kaas asked. Captain Thol let out a sigh.

"We were just about to head back towards Starbase Archer when a ridiculously large vessel arrived and fired on us. They then proceeded to launch boarding pods when our shields had been knocked down. It wasn't long until they overran a third of my ship including the bridge. Wrecked every ship system in the process and slaughtered thousands of my crew, including the majority of my senior officers," he explained.

"Every deck was filled with these things. We managed to secure decks 45 to 50, but with this many aliens it won't be long before they become breached. The remaining senior officers rounded up as many survivors as they could and crammed them onto this deck so that we can evacuate. But they managed to completely destroy the Apollo's main EPS grid, and most secondary power systems were critically damaged. We can't launch any escape craft," Captain Thol continued.

"What about shuttles or the Cestus frigates?" Cervantes asked.

"All shuttle bays have been totalled," Captain Thol replied.

Thol's combade suddenly chirped. When he answered, the frantic voice shouted in response. "The bogeys have breached our defence perimeter on deck 50! They're - OH GOD NO! N-"

The voice was cut, and only static followed.

"Ensign? Ensign Andrews come in!" Captain Thol tried to hail, but there was no response. A moment later, loud banging sounds could be heard. Kaas knew, those damn aliens were coming.

Thol tapped into his combadge, "All security personnel, form a defence perimeter on Deck 45, stat!"

Thol's and Kaas' people immediately flocked out of Cetacean Ops and formed defence lines throughout the deck. Kaas and Ensign Cervantes along with five other officers were ducked behind a large supply crate facing towards the right end of the corridor, just outside Cetacean Ops.

The footsteps quickly got louder and louder, and it wasn't long before he saw tentacles peeping out from the corner.

Kaas aimed his phaser and pressed on its trigger.

>>><<<

Back on the Meridian, the Larsen was still being kept apprised of the situation on the Apollo. His science officer Senn had been attempting to analyse the pictures of alien corpses captured by the away teams.

"Everyone?" Senn asked, "You all need to see this."

All the senior officers crowded around the science station. Senn's console screen showed a three-dimensional model of the alien with numerous text boxes sprouting out from the model.

"Is that the full appearance of that alien?" Dunn asked.

"Yes. Based on computer simulations, we believe this is what the alien would look like, without any armor," Senn replied.

"Reminds me of those 'Harvester aliens' from one of Earth's ancient movies," Aashu remarked.

"Or a Hur'q," T'Sol added.

"Freaky," Dunn said.

"Let's see: Height speculated at approximately 2 meters, a crested head, large pupiless eyes, six tentacles, limbs curving inwards with two digits each," Larsen read.

"This is only 91 percent accurate however. To fill in the blanks what we need is, and I hate to say it, a corpse of one of those aliens for an autopsy," Senn stated.

"Oh great, we're gonna have to bring one of them onboard," Dunn said.

"Inform Medical to standby an area closed off with an isolation forcefield." Larsen headed back to his command chair. "Bridge to Transporter Room. Chief Presley, do we have a lock on the survivors?"

Chief Presly's voice came through the comm. "That's a negative. The ambient radiation's messing with targeting; I'll have to recalibrate."

"Hurry Chief, the longer they spend trapped on that ship the more people we're gonna lose," Larsen urged.

"Captain, Medical reports that they're standing by. They also report appropriate triage centers have been set up in the shuttle and cargo bays," Aashu reported.

"Good," Larsen replied. "Larsen to Kaas, do you read?"

No response.

"This is the USS Meridian to all away teams, do you read?" Larsen tried hailing again.

Still no response.

"Captain, all I'm getting is static!" Aashu said, alarmed.

This was bad.

"That means they're probably in trouble. Shit," Larsen realised. He tapped with more force than usual on his comm panel. "Larsen to Transporter Room, how long is the recalibration going to take?"

"Around two minutes sir," Chief Presley replied.

"You don't have that long; the away teams have run into possible trouble. I'm only giving you a minute," Larsen said into the comm.

"Well then, transport's gonna be a little bumpy, but I'll try. Presley out," Chief Presley replied.

Looks like things got more intense than expected.

>>><<<

Deck 45 of the Apollo became a warzone in an instant.

Starfleet officers were shooting in almost every direction in their peripheral, trying to down the incoming enemies. Kaas managed to score several hits before ducking back down to cover. After a few seconds, he aimed his phaser and fired. He soon realised that trying to take down even one of the aliens was much more of a challenge that he thought.

"How resistant are these things?!" Kaas shouted as he noticed his shots had very little effect on it.

"Try to target its heads! It's the weakest spot!" Thol shouted. Kaas aimed his phaser towards the alien's head. This time he saw his shots having a much greater effect. The alien stumbled backwards as it was hit, trying to re-orientate itself, only for Kaas to deliver the final shot, finally managing to down it. Kaas counted fifteen shots before the alien was downed. And his phaser was set at the second highest setting, short of downright vaporizing the alien, which Kaas realised wouldn't be possible anyway.

Despite the progress the Starfleet officers were having in repelling them, the aliens only continued to soldier on, and managed to knock down and even kill a number of the defenders. One alien picked up an ensign as if it was only holding a feather and tossed him aside. The ensign slammed into the bulkhead with a loud bang before falling to the floor.

“We’re being swatted like flies!” Thol shouted over the weapons fire.

The Starfleet officers were very quickly losing ground.

Inside Cetacean Ops, Ensign Andaria had people set up pattern enhancers all over the main research area. 

“You think the Meridian’s going to detect us?” an ensign asked.

“They will,” Andaria answered, “They have to.”

>>><<<

“Chief, how long until recalibration is complete?” Larsen asked into the comm.

“Fifteen seconds,” came Chief Presley’s answer.

“Acknowledged. Bridge to Medical, prepare to receive casualties.”

“Achieving transporter lock in ten seconds,” Chief Presley announced.

9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2…

“...and energizing now.”

The cargo and shuttle bays were suddenly filled with the dematerialising surviving crew, as well as the Meridian’s away teams. Medical staff immediately sprang into action, tending to the injured.

“Chief Presley, status?” Larsen asked.

A brief moment of silence passed before Chief Presley’s answer came.

“Got them, sir,” Presley announced with relief.

“Nice!” Larsen exclaimed.

“Sir, Sickbay reports that they’ve received the alien corpse,” Aashu reported. Larsen smiled.

But one more thing remained, and that was the Apollo.

Larsen’s smile faded quickly as he knew what he had to do.

“Tactical, arm torpedoes,” Larsen commanded. The tactical officer complied, announcing that the launchers had been primed.

“All hands, eyes front.”

All the bridge officers stopped and stood at attention, eyes on the viewscreen. The floating, half-destroyed hunk of the USS Apollo took up the majority of the viewscreen. Larsen managed to make out the registry number one last time.

_NCC-987625._

“She’ll go with the dignity she deserves,” Larsen said, pausing for a moment. “Fire.”

The tactical officer tapped on her holographic screen, and the torpedoes were away. They impacted on the Apollo’s primary hull, lighting it up in a fiery blaze, lasting for a few moments before dying down.

“Helm, plot a course towards Starbase Archer,” Larsen ordered. 

The Meridian’s nacelles spooled up for warp, before it sped away from the now charred remains of the Apollo.

  
  


**STARBASE ARCHER, SOLVANIS SYSTEM, ANDROMEDA GALAXY**

_Captain’s log: We’ve recovered the survivors from the Apollo and have taken them to Starbase Archer where they will be returned to the Milky Way. The autopsy report on the alien corpse we managed to transport from the Apollo has yielded astonishing results about its biology, which warrants further study. In the meantime, I’ve decided to brief the station’s commanding officer, Captain Capello, on the events surrounding the Apollo._

“Another Universe-class lost,” Captain Capello sighed, as she sat down onto her chair. Her office was sparsely decorated, with only a few pieces of furniture spread throughout the room. This was expected, since the station was still new and understaffed and underequipped, having been commissioned less than a week ago.

“And the circumstances surrounding her destruction is disturbing to say the least,” she added, “Just two weeks ago, the USS Liberty was destroyed in a freak accident involving its warp core and an unusually intense ion storm. Luckily, there were no fatalities.”

“The Apollo was boarded by unknown aliens, Captain,” Larsen reminded.

“Yes. I’ve read your report,” Capello replied. “You should know, this is considered a First Contact scenario. The first time Starfleet runs into aliens from another galaxy and over 8000 people are butchered by them. And to think, Starfleet was planning to send ships into the _Triangulum Galaxy_.”

Larsen just nodded along. 

“If this is the kind of stuff we’re gonna run into in Andromeda and ships get destroyed constantly, how are we supposed to continue exploration without posing unnecessary danger to the crews of the ships we send?” Capello finished.

“If this is the kind of stuff we’re going to run into, then we have to be prepared for them. There’s no other choice,” Larsen spoke.

“Agreed. I’ve had the life sciences department run through the autopsy report of that alien corpse on your ship. Their biology is both absolutely fascinating and downright terrifying. I mean,” Capello said as she held up a datapad, “A possible hive mind? An underdeveloped brain suggesting semi-sentience? An exoskeleton almost three-quarters as tough as the hardest tritanium compound?”

“According to Commander Kaas, it took fifteen shots at the second highest phaser setting to down just one of them,” Larsen added, “And according to Captain Thol, the only place where they could inflict the most damage with phasers was the head.”

Capello let out another sigh. “Looks like we’ll have to look out for them in the near future.”

“But with two Universe-class ships destroyed in less than a month, it’s become clear that our current generation of starships are just not equipped enough to deal with extragalactic scenarios, especially those launched before 2550. And not to mention, the Universe-class was supposed to be multi-mission explorers,” Larsen said.

“Until we can develop new ship classes, I’ll have to make a recommendation to Starfleet to start on possible upgrades to our exploration cruisers,” Capello stated.

“Good call,” Larsen agreed.

After the briefing, Larsen headed to Starbase Archer’s Club 116. It reminded him of Earth Spacedock’s Club 47, and in some ways Club 116 was similar. It had the Astrolounge, the Synthbar and the massive dance floor with club music playing almost non-stop.

Larsen managed to find Commander Kaas sitting by himself at one of the sofas in the Astrolounge staring into space, a glass of whiskey placed on the table in front. Larsen walked up beside him.

“Mind a little company?” Larsen asked. This brought Kaas out of his thoughts.

“Hey,” Kaas said, a smile slowly forming, “You’re here.”

Larsen took this as an invitation to sit. He plopped down besides Kaas, his right arm stretched out on the sofa’s backrest. 

“How are you feeling?” Larsen asked, his eyes fixed on Kaas, then down to his drink.

“Still a little shaken up, but better I guess,” Kaas replied.

“You know, if you need more time to recover, I can just make the Meridian stay put in dock for another few days. After all you and your away teams have been through….” Larsen suggested.

“Yeah, sure,” Kaas answered, staring back down at his glass of whiskey again.

A moment of silence passed between the two before Larsen spok again.

“You know, I was sure that we would have been on our separate ways after we graduated from the Academy,” Larsen casually remarked.

Kaas let out a small chuckle. “The class of 2537. Those were a very memorable four years. I remember you seemed to just excel in everything. And to think, you were a counselor.”

“I enjoyed being a counselor. I remember you were mad when I took up that counselor posting on the Enterprise.”

“Hah, yeah. All that time serving on different posts, and it took Project Interstellar to help bring us together again. I remember West was freaking out about the nacelles falling off their pylons when the Meridian was still under construction.”

“First time I’ve seen the stone-cold badass Commander West having an almost panic attack. It was a sight to behold.”

Larsen let out a sigh, and admired the scenery of space beyond the massive window at the end of the Astrolounge. It was peaceful, and he felt his shoulders relax. He felt like he could just let go of the cares in the universe.

“You know, my life would have been worse without you around me all the time,” Kaas said softly, “Thanks, Reyes.”

Reyes just smiled, and the two men took in the view from the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey, welcome back to the end!
> 
> As always, comments are appreciated!


End file.
